Overview: I-526 and I-829 Processing Data for FY2018 Q4

USCIS recently updated data for petitions processed in FY2018 Q4. These quarterly trends help investors understand the demand for EB-5 visas per country and, ultimately, individual country wait times.

FY2018 Q4 Petition Volume and Overall Trends

The Investor Program Office’s (IPO) total output for 2018 Q4 was about the same as in FY2018 Q3. There were more I-829 and less I-526 petitions processed this quarter, and the number of forms received remained comparatively low.

In FY2018, the IPO processed more than twice the number of I-526 petitions it received. As a result, the IPO has reduced its backlog of pending I-526 petitions by more than 40%, from 24,992 I-526 petitions pending at the end of FY2017 to 14,394 I-526 petitions pending at the end of FY2018.

In terms of I-829 petitions, the number of pending petitions at the IPO increased from 6,735 at the end of FY2017 to 7,660 at the end of FY2018. USCIS has confirmed in a recent stakeholder engagement that it will focus more resources on reducing the

I-829 backlog in FY2019.